Within the stone hall, the firelight, once dim and oppressive beneath the gravity of the Dark Nether River's sinking-water period, seemed to break free of some invisible restraint the moment the Blackwater Horned Python fell, growing bright and lively.
The flames, fed with deep-sea whale oil, cast several silhouettes upon the stone walls, their outlines carved by age and bitter cold until they resembled stone sculptures.
With trembling hands, the old chief Wu Cang solemnly retrieved a bone casket carved from blue-green jade from a hidden compartment behind his stone seat, under the reverent gazes of a hundred elite hunters.
Dried blood-colored patterns covered its surface—the seals strengthened with the heart's blood of generations of chiefs.
A click sounded.
The lid opened. Inside, there was neither the anticipated blaze of golden light nor swirling immortal aura, only a yellowed, blackened hide scroll, its edges slightly curled.
Charred black marks covered the scroll's edges, signs of decay wrought by long ages, carrying a desolation that seemed to have crossed the primordial era.
"This is the inheritance our tribe has preserved for ten thousand years—the Heavy Water True Intent Body Tempering Method."
Wu Cang's voice was low and hoarse, solemn as though he were entrusting the fate of his tribe to another. "This scroll was inscribed upon the hide of an ancient ferocious beast. The hide alone weighs tens of thousands of jun. By slaying the Horned Python today, fellow Daoist, you saved not merely my life, but the lives of tens of thousands of our surviving bloodline. This... rightfully belongs to you."
Chu Bai stepped forward and reached out to take the scroll.
The instant his fingertips touched the dark-brown hide, his body actually dipped slightly.
His pupils contracted. This seemingly thin scroll weighed no less than ten thousand jin.
What